Putting Away All Christmas Decorations But One

 Taking down decorations has been almost effortless following Christmas 2014. An explanation is needed. A minimalist approach was a necessity in our home’s Christmas décor this year. The equipment needed for Dad’s care requires a considerable amount of room in the living room of my parents’ farmhouse leaving little room for a tree. Since Dad’s care is the main priority on the farm, the decorations had to take second place.

Last year Dad had helped me erect the artificial tree that I moved from my place when I retired from teaching. The ornaments reflected memories spanning over 70 years, with Mother’s cherished angel from the 1940s, to innumerable ornaments given by former students to me during Christmas pasts.

For many years prior to that, we had a live cedar tree cut from our pasture. Almost every year Angie, my sister, would go with Dad to ensure the tree was perfect. What a major task it was to keep the tree bucket full of water to keep the tree green and fireproof especially when Charmin, Angie's cat drank from it, too! It wasn’t the typical tree because Dad would use a rope to secure the tree to the vintage china cabinet to make sure the tree stayed upright through the Christmas season.

Dad and Angie preparing to take the tree into the house. Dad used to say
               one of the most common mistakes when cutting a tree was selecting
a tree that was too large for the indoor space.

This year I suggested we use the 24-inch fiber optic Christmas tree that I had used in my classroom when I taught third graders. I had read of a Haitian Christmas custom of placing a nativity under a home’s Christmas tree, if the family could afford a tree. There are few Christmas presents under the Haitians’ trees since the annual per capita income is less than $400 according to the United States State Department’s website.

The miniature fiber optic 
Christmas tree.

As I was putting the nine ornaments plus the star topper on the miniature fiber optic tree, I told Dad that I thought I could find a small nativity set from the variety of the ones Bobby Simma, a former Woodland Elementary School principal, had given each Christmas to his teachers. Dad nodded to me, as I remembered in earlier days how he had often commented that Bobby was a “good school man.” Sure enough, I located the perfect nativity set. Within just a matter of minutes, it was in place under the tiny tree.

The nativity set I had received from Bobby
 Simma in 1998.

During the past month, I reflected on the lack of Christmas decorations, but surprisingly enough, the trade-off paid great dividends. Mother and I sang several Christmas carols each night before Dad fell asleep. Dad quite regularly through the month listened on his iPod to his Christmas playlist of traditional Christmas standards performed by George Strait and Bing Crosby. The music brought the joy of the birth of Christ with its eternal impact into our reality.

One other ornament found its way to the diminutive tree. Cathy, a friend of mine from my Russia trip experience, went to Kosovo this past November to assist rural families with special needs children since the Kosovar educational system cannot provide the support needed for a quality education for these precious little ones. While in the region, she reconnected with a dedicated mother who daily goes to school with her little girl who has Down’s Syndrome and serves as the classroom aide to her daughter since the school cannot afford to hire a paraprofessional for her. She created the handcrafted ornament that Cathy sent to me. Cathy’s purchase of her ornaments made it possible for this devoted mother to purchase Christmas gifts for her family. So many aspects of this account illustrate Christmas from Cathy’s willingness to serve in a country whose average monthly income is around $400 to a loving mother committed wholeheartedly to her daughter in an effort to help her succeed.

Giving of ourselves to those we love with our time and resources is possibly one of the best ways to observe Christmas. How like the first Christmas gift this is! God loved humans so much that He lovingly and willingly gave His Son to be misunderstood, ridiculed, and crucified for those of us who could never pay Him back.

In spite of limited festive decorations this Christmas, we knew how to keep Christmas well as Charles Dickens said of the enlightened Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. May we vow as Ebenezer Scrooge declared with a determined voice, “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year long.” Let’s pledge to daily give as God has given unreservedly to us with joy and lavishness.

I think I'll keep out this handcrafted
Kosavar ornament as a tangible reminder
to daily honor Christmas in my heart.